Play Cards and Castles

January 1

We are proud to announce the upcoming release of our next major expansion, THE ENCHANTED GROVE, coming January 11th! This expansion will feature the addition of a 6th faction to the game, DRUIDS, as well as some new cards for the druid faction and a massive revamp of game mechanics and cards. Key features are:

A 6th faction, the enigmatic and nature-loving Druids, have joined the fight! Summon rampaging beasts and harness the spirit of the forest to protect your units and crush your enemies!

Faction identities return! Factions now have much tighter restrictions on what kinds of cards and abilities they may possess. Many neutral units have been returned to their original faction.

TRAP CARDS, a new mechanic available to all factions which allows you to set secret traps that can activate on your opponent's turn!

A general revamp of numbers and formulas, with more powerful spells, a sturdier Castle, and less ability to punish aggressive positions.

For this release, the team went back to examining core gameplay with basic cards to identify ways we could improve the pacing and momentum of the game. Traditionally the game has allowed for tempo swings too easily and too frequently, leading players to play a conservative game and generally not take aggressive positions until late game. Last summer we reduced the HP of the castle from 20 to 12 as a way to reward more aggressive positions with a potential early kill. This worked in improving the player experience without changing the card pool too much, but came with some significant downsides. A lower HP pool means players can sometimes be surprised by how quickly they die and feel that their position is too fragile to allow for interesting setups and longer-plan decks. By focusing on core mechanics and basic cards, we were able to come up with a rule set that feels more fair for all sides and addresses the actual issue of tempo swings directly, at the cost of majorly changing the game.

So Castles now have 20 HP, but we have nerfed or removed most ways for players to significantly punish an attacker directly from the hand. Most significantly, RANGED UNITS CANNOT ATTACK IMMEDIATELY when they are played. Playtesting identified the ability to punish attackers directly from hand with a ranged unit, gaining massive board presence at zero risk, to be the most significant deterrent to attacking.

Melee units have been mostly standardized to 3 movement, with special card text for units that can move 4 or 2 spaces. Units that move 2 spaces ALSO cannot attack on the same turn they are played, again because they tend to have higher stats and were too potently used as value-add castle defenders. Many units that were previously slow or fast have been changed to a standard 3 move unit with different abilities, and the SLOW attribute is used sparingly (and the FAST attribute for 4-move units is exclusive to ninjas).

Combat abilities such as CHAIN LIGHTNING and COMBO now activate when a unit counterattacks as well as when they attack. This can make aggressive positions much more potent.

Factions are now much more restricted in the mechanics they possess. This gives each faction more flavor, adds more weight to the dual-faction decision, and makes gameplay less unpredictable as you can now rule out significant options for your opponent based on the factions they are using. Additionally, many cool new combat mechanics have been added specifically to round out faction abilities and make them as cool as possible.

PIRATES: Pirates are thieving scoundrels who love treasure and will use any dirty trick they can to win in combat. Pirates have exclusive access to gold-generating abilities and are a debuff-focused faciton. They use the following unique mechanics:

TREASURE: Gain X gold at the start of your next turn.

STUN: Prevents an enemy unit from moving, attacking or counter-attacking for one turn.

RIPOSTE: Deals double damage on counter-attacks.

DRUIDS: Druids possess an affinity with nature and the creatures of the forest. They can absorb damage from allies with their spiritual bonds, and summon ferocious beasts to come to their aid. Druid mechanics favor ephemeral units and aggressive plays, completing the circle of life. They use the following unique mechanics:

SPIRIT LINK: Any combat damage dealt to your allies is redirected to this unit.

RAMPAGE: This unit can move and attack a second unit after the first (unchanged from live).

COMPANION: Companion units can be played next to any other unit you have on the board.

We're really excited about the release of this expansion and can't wait to get all these cool new mechanics into everyone's hands! Feel free to post any questions below, thank you!

Reviews

“'Cards and Castles' is Like 'Hero Academy' Meets 'Hearthstone'”Touch Arcade

“The game is good, the cutesy visuals are appealing, and adding the units’ field movement into the mix — opposed to Hearthstone’s static cards-on-a-table schtick — is refreshing and adds an extra layer of strategy...”Geek

“While Cards and Castles is certainly not the first game to combine deck building and turn-based strategy, it offers a refreshing view on just how fun it can be.”Siliconera

About This Game

Collectible cards come to life in CARDS AND CASTLES! Collect cards, build decks, and compete against other players in strategic tactical battles. Your cards turn into expressive animated characters when you play them on the game board. Position your pieces carefully and strike when the time is right!

Get free cards every day just for logging in!

Rank up and earn special rewards by competing against other players. The innovative SUDDEN DEATH mechanic ensures your matches never drag out!

Combine up to two factions for unique deck combos. Play as Vikings, Crusaders, Pirates, Warlocks and Ninjas!

Collect newly released cards every month!

Compete in weekend Draft Tournaments for great prizes!

Play on Steam, Mobile or Tablet all with the same account. Cards and Castles is a fully cross platform game!